Justification:
This species is widespread in the Eastern Pacific, and is common in many parts of its range. There are no major threats for this species, and no current indication of population decline. It is listed as Least Concern.

This species was studied in different sites at Galapagos archipelago, being the second most abundant species, with an overall mean abundance of 12.4 individuals per 500 m2 (Edgar et al. 2004). This fish was studied in Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica (Dominici-Arosemena et al. 2005) with a density of 0.14 (±0.52) individuals per m2. At Gulf Dulce, Costa Rica, it had a density of 0.257 (±0.210) individuals per m2 and a relative abundance of 6.939% (Figueroa 2001). Within a five-site-study survey, at Catalinas Islands, this fish could be observed just in two sites, with an overall observations of 45 times (Espinoza and Salas 2005). In Cabo Pulmo, Mexico, this fish was considered common — one to five % of the overall abundance — with a relative frequency between 50-75% (Villarreal-Cavazos et al. 2000). In Bahía de Navidad, Jalisco, México, this fish was captured just twice within 12 (one each month) field trips throughout a year (Rojo-Vázquez et al. 2001). A survey at Gorgona Island coral reefs, Colombia (Rubio 1986), showed that this fish seems to be abundant in coralline and sandy bottoms while frequent in rocky bottoms and tide pools. Zapata and Morales (1997), also in the same place, recorded a density of 3.628 (±9.773) individuals per 10 m2, with an observational frequency of 80%. This fish was not observed in a survey conducted at Clipperton Atoll (Robertson and Allen 1996).

This reef-associated species inhabits rocky and coral reefs (Allen 1991) to depths of 20 m, and is usually found in large aggregations. At Gulf of Chiriqui, Panamá, this fish could be found over massive corals, deep rocky walls, exposed shallow rocky reef and zones of madreporic branching coral (Dominici-Arosemena and Wolff 2006). The diet of this diurnal feeder consists of plankton at the surface or mid-water, it also grazes on benthic invertebrates and algae on the reef.

There are no major threats known for this species. According to Dominici-Arosemena et al. (2005), this is a important aquarium fish in Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica. However, aquarium collecting is so localized that it is very unlikely to affect population numbers.

Removed the sentence "According to Aburto-Oropeza and Balart (2001), H. passer is a frequent and abundant species at Los Islotes, Gulf of California, with an occurrence frequency between 30-70%. " as it appears to have been accidentally copied over from another assessment.

Gill, T.N. 1862. Catalogue of the fishes of Lower California, in the Smithsonian Institution, collected by Mr. J. Xantus. Part 2. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 14: 242-246.